Saskatchewan population hits 1.1 million: Province grew 1.9% over past year

CBC News September 26, 2013 - It's one of Canada's fastest- growing provinces and now Saskatchewan has more than 1.1 million people, Statistics Canada says. The latest quarterly estimate from StatsCan puts the June 30 population at 1,108,303.

That's an increase of 20,757 from the year before — the equivalent of adding two more Weyburns.

Premier Brad Wall was celebrating the milestone Thursday with a presentation at the Legislative Building where a group of new residents were treated to a large green cake.

Saskatchewan's population has been up and down over the past century, but it has never hit 1.1 million before.

Wall was also commenting on the fact that many people are still crossing the border to live in Alberta.

"I would point out the overall provincial in-migration, the numbers of other Canadians moving to Saskatchewan, are greater — we have more people coming in than leaving," he said. "But head-to-head with Alberta we are losing a few."

Wall says the competition with Alberta is a positive thing.       Saskatchewan grew by 1.9 per cent over the past year, making it the second-fastest-growing province after Alberta (3.4 per cent.)

Over the same period, Canada's population grew by 1.2 per cent.

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